Sri Lanka to Host Pakistan Matches at World Cup

Sri Lanka will host matches at this year’s Women’s World Cup as part of ongoing arrangements surrounding fixtures involving India and Pakistan.

India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the men’s Champions Trophy earlier this year prompted the International Cricket Council to introduce neutral venues to tournaments hosted by either nation.

As part of the plans, announced in December, neither country will travel to the other for an ICC event.

The Sri Lankan city of Colombo will join Indian cities Bengaluru, Guwahati, Indore and Visakhapatnam in staging the Women’s World Cup, which runs from September 30 until November 2.

Colombo will host Pakistan’s seven group games, including against India and England. It will also host a semi-final and the final if Pakistan make it that far.

Bengaluru will stage the opening match, involving India, and the final if Pakistan are not involved.

The full list of fixtures for the eight-team tournament is still to be announced.

Australia are the defending World Cup champions, having beaten England in the final of the previous tournament in New Zealand, delayed until 2022 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

One potential problem with the logistical switch could be the weather, with October one of the wetter months of the year in Sri Lanka.

India and Pakistan were not playing each other outside of major tournaments even before the conflict between the two nations last month.